He’s not the wealthiest businessman in Hong Kong by as the handover nears. Yung is the one everybody’s watching. He heals locally listed Chinese investment company cmc Pacific and played a crucial role in 1996 summer in the reshuffling of ownership of Hong Kong’s airlines, increasing Chinese stakes and reducing stakes and reducing British holdings. – C.Y. YU-SCMP

In 1979 Li brought Hong Kong through an early—though revolutionary—decolonization when he purchased control of blueblood British hong Hutchison Whampoa. He has held the upper hand since, wheeling and dealing with the likes of Jardines and Rupert Murdock, consistently coming out millions of dollar ahead. – Snowdon

No one is more responsible for how the Hong Kong sees itself than Shaw, 90. Not only has his Shaw Brothers Productions created the model of the Hong Kong movie—a cheap, high-voltage adventure that pleases audiences more than critics—but his TVB television group also controls 80% of Hong Kong’s book-tube market. – Snowdon

The 1990 kidnapping and presumed murder of her husband, Chinachem chairman Teddy Wang Teh Huei, put the flamboyant Wang in charge of Hong Kong’s largest private company. the “Chairlady,” her preferred title, has held her own: Chinachem now has interests in some 200 buildings, and Wang is reportedly Asia’s richest woman. – Billy Kung for Time

In a city that values connections to China, Fok’s may be the best. During the Korean War, he helped China break a trade embargo. His Hong Kong connections are solid, too: in the 1980’s, when future chief executive C.H. Tung’s shipping empire was floundering, Fok together with Chinese interests, provided a crucial $120 million loan. – Ricky Chung-SCMP

Hong Kong’s real estate is among the costliest in the world, and Lee has cornered a lot to it. The son of a gold trader in China, Lee migrated to Hong Kong in the late 1940s and founded two of its largest property companies. In 1996, Forbes rated him the richest man in Asia, with a net worth of $12.7 billion. – Billy Kung for Time